Social and Hospitality Group
Jane Trigle our Hospitality Coordinator, writes:
Just when you think we can’t get any busier, a whole new raft of events appears at St Michael & All Angels - but they get absorbed in our yearly round as if they had always been there.
To our already busy autumn season we have added the Chiswick Book Festival with all-day teas, coffees and cakes plus themed refreshments, all of which appear as if by magic.
The magic is provided by the large number of people whom I am always e-mailing to see if they could pour wine for me, provide a plate of nibbles, mash
spuds or wash up dinner plates into the wee small hours. Without their willingness and sterling help, none of it would be possible. Nor could, we as a Church manage this level of hospitality. I am very grateful to them all – and particularly to my long suffering husband, who always seems to end up washing the champagne flutes.
Majestic Wine must be on the verge of reporting the Trigle household to the NHS for excessive drinking. When I ring up the Shepherd’s Bush branch I am treated like an old friend. ‘How many cases is that? – oh, 12 of red and 12 of white, that’s fine’..... and no matter that I say ‘Please deliver to the Church’, you can tell they think it’s a ruse.
But, what with Festivals, Green Days, Church Feasts and the like we do have a lot to celebrate, and if God likes a cheerful giver, I am sure He likes a cheerful worshipper too. Over the past year we have cheerfully opened a bottle or two of fizz for the Feast of Corpus Christi, our Feast of Title, Michaelmas; and a return visit by Bishop Michael Marshall to confirm members of our congregation, to name but some.
We also provide refreshments
and lunches at various times throughout the year. These include the major catering extravaganza that is the famed Easter Breakfast, prepared for all those who have got up in the middle of the night to brave the dawn Solemn Mass of the Easter Vigil. In addition a group of our volunteers was also involved in the provision of Community Lunches in conjunction with other church groups in Chiswick until these came to an end in October 2011 following the closure of the Day Centre where they were held.
Other events at St Michael's which involve the Hospitality Group include:
• Festival Lunch: provided in 2011 by the Children's Church in the Vicarage Garden (above)
• The Parish Advent lunch
• Mulled wine and mince pies served after the Nine Lessons and Carols Service
• The auction of the Advent Calendar pictures: we provided Buck’s Fizz and a brunch of bagels
• Lent lunches: organised by Mary Pears,Charities Group Coordinator.
If you are interested in helping with St Michael's Hospitality in any way (and new faces are always very welcome) please contact me, Jane Trigle, via the Parish Office